iconcharts

Hard Drive Benchmarks

Over 1,000,000 Hard Drives Benchmarked

Hard Drive Naming Conventions

Whilst they may at first appear to be merely a jumble of numbers and letters, the hard drive model names used in our charts have a lot of meaning behind them. This page aims to deconstruct and explain the naming convention used by the different HDD manufacturers.
This reference was gathered from various resources, the information provided may contain possible errors or omission.

Seagate

Examples: Enterprise - ST500MX001A Desktop, laptop and CE - ST500DX001

ST
Brand - 2 letters
 

ST=Seagate

MX=Maxtor

500
Capacity - 2-4 digits

80 = 80GB
500 = 500GB
1500 = 1500GB

Capacities > 9999GB: 10 = 10TB 15 = 15TB

MX
DX
Segment - 2 letters

DX = Desktop Premium DM = Mainstream DL = Entry Level LX = Laptop Premium LM = Laptop Mainstream LT = Laptop Thin

MX = Mission-Critical NX = Nearline VX = Surveillance VM = DVR VT = DVR Thin FX/FM = Enterprise SSD

001
Attributes - 3 digits, non-intelligent

Varies for: Z-heights Form Factor RPM Cache

Interface SED, FIPS Drop Sensor Interface Speed

A
  

Generation - 1 letter A = 1st Generation

B = 2nd Generation C = 3rd Generation

Seagate Retail Model Numbers:

Retail Internal 8 to 11 digits Retail External 9 to 12 digits Retail NAS 9 to 12 digits
ST AA 0000 000 ST AA 0000 000 ST AA 0000 000

Reference: http://www.seagate.com/files/staticfiles/docs/pdf/marketing/st-model-number-cheat-sheet-sc504-1-1102us.pdf

Old Seagate

Example: ST3500620AS

ST This is a Seagate drive
3
The physical size of the drive:
        

3 = 3.5 6 = 1”

7 = 1.8” 9 = 2.5”

500 Capacity in GB. This drive is 500GB
6
Size of the cache:

0 = 2MB 2 = 2MB 3 = 8MB

4 = 16MB 6 = 16MB 8 = 8MB

20 Identifier, unknown meaning.
AS
Interface:
          

A = ATA AS = SATA CF = CompactFlash ACE = ATA Consumer Electronics

SCE = SATA Consumer Electronics AV = ATA Surveillance Video SV = SATA Surveillance Video

Reference: http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=204763&Hilite=model

Western Digital

Example: WD6400AAKS-75A7B0

WD This is a Western Digital Drive
6400 Drive capacity, meaning changes depending on the next part of the name. This number should be interpreted such that the final digit is after the decimal point: 6400 = 640.0
A
Capacity/Form Factor:
                  

A = GB/3.5-inch B = GB/2.5-inch C = GB/1.0-inch E = TB/3.5-inch

F = TB/3.5-inch H = GB/3.5-inch (Backplane-Ready) In this case ('A') the previous 640.0 means the drive is 640.0GBwith a 3.5" form factor.

A
Brand:
                  

A = Desktop/WD Caviar® B = Enterprise/WD RE2 (3-platter)
C = Desktop/WD Protege® D = Enterprise/WD Raptor® < E = Mobile/WD Scorpio®

H = Enthusiast/WD Raptor X L = WD VelociRaptor P = Mobile/WD Scorpio® Blue V = Audio/Video - WD AV Y = Enterprise/WD RE2 (4-platter)

K
Drive RPM / Cache Size:
                  

A = 5400 RPM with 2 MB cache B = 7200 RPM with 2 MB cache C = IntelliPower™ with 16 MB cache F = 10,000 RPM with 16 MB cache G = 10,000 RPM with 8 MB cache

J = 7200 RPM with 8 MB cache K = 7200 RPM with 16 MB cache P = IntelliPower/EM (maximum buffer size offered by product) V = 5400 RPM with 8 MB cache (Mobile) Y = 7200 RPM/EM (maximum buffer size offered by product)

S
Interface:
                  

A = ATA/66 with 40-pin IDE connector B = ATA/100 with 40-pin IDE connector C = ATA with 33-pin connector (zero insertion force—ZIF) D = SATA 1.5 Gb/s with 22-pin SATA connector

E = ATA/133 with 40-pin IDE connector S = SATA 3.0 Gb/s with 22-pin SATA connector T = SATA 3.0 Gb/s with 22-pin SATA connector (Mobile)

- Everything following the dash was only meant for in house use by Western Digital, as such this is little information on the meanings of these values and the following information may not be entirely accurate or complete.
75
Vendor Code
                  

00 = general consumer market 01 = general enterprise market 22 = promotional sample 23 = IBM

53 = Gateway 60 = Compaq 71 = HP 75 = Dell

A
A = Unkown
                  

C = 40 GB platters / BallBearings D = 66 GB platters / BallBearings E = 83 GB platters / BallBearings F = 83 GB platters / FDB G = 83 GB platters / FDB / SilentSeek

M = 80 GB new platters / SATA2 / no NCQ N = 80..107 GB new platters / SATA2 / with NCQ K = 107 GB new platters P = 107 GB new platters / SATA2 or RE2 / with NCQ

7 Unkown
B Unkown
0 Firmware version or generation

References: http://www.wdc.com/en/library/2579-001028.pdf http://forums.storagereview.net/index.php?showtopic=22131

Hitachi

Example: HDS728080PLAT20

H This is a Hitachi Drive
D
Product Family:

D = Deskstar C = CinemaStar T = Travelstar

U = Ultrastar M = Microdrive E = Endurastar

S
Series prefix:

S= Standard (default, if no series name prefix) C = Compact J/N = Endurastar Temperature Range

E = Enh. Availability (24x7) T = Differentiator between two models with the same name (T7K250)

72
Speed, expressed in Revolutions Per Minute (rpm):

36 = 3600 rpm 42 = 4200 rpm 54 = 5400 rpm

72 = 7200 rpm 10 = 10,000 rpm 15 = 15,000 rpm

80
Top capacity available for a particular drive release:

25 = 250GB (first two significant digits) 18 = 180GB

In this case it is 80GB

80
Model capacity for this specific drive: 

25 = 250GB (first two significant digits) 18 = 180GB

In this case it is 80GB

P Unique code
L
Height:

L = 1 S = 15mm 7 = 7 mm

9 = 9.5 mm 5 = 5 mm 8 = 8 mm

AT
16 = Ultra 160, 68 pin 

18 = Ultra 160, 80 pin 36 = Ultra 320, 68 pin 38 = Ultra 320, 80 pin A = ATA/Entry level A3 = Serial-ATA 3 Gbit / s AT = ATA CA = CE-ATA 

CE = ATA (ZIF Connector) CF = CF2 pin  CM = ATA on MMC F2 = Fibre channel 2GB F4 = Fibre channel 4GB SA = Serial-ATA 1,5 GB /s SS = Serial-attached SCSI

2 Feature Code assigned by business unit (e.g., cache buffer size)
0 Unique code

Reference: http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/newnum.htm

Old IBM Drives

Example: IC25N040ATCS04-0

IC Stands for Internal Code, can be taken to mean an IBM drive.
25
Form factor:

35 = 88.9 mm (3.5 inch)

25 = 63.5 mm (2.5 inch)

N
Height:

L = 25.4 mm (1 inch) T = 12.5 mm (0.49 inch)

N = 9.5 mm (0.37 inch)

040 Unique code
AT
Interface:

AV = ATA UW = Ultra SCSI 68-pin Wide

UC = Ultra SCSI 80-pin SCA F2 = FC-AL-2 (2 Gbit)

CS Unique code
-0 Unknown

Reference: http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/modnum.htm

Fujitsu

Example: MHV2160BT

M Fujitsu Drive
HV Product Generation Counter
2
Form Factor:

2 = 2.5 3 = 3.5

160 Capacity in GB
BT
Interface:

AH = ATA 5400RPM AS = ATA 5400RPM Extended Duty AT = ATA 4200RPM

BH = SATA 5400RPM BS = SATA 5400RPM Extended Duty BT = SATA 4200RPM

Reference: http://www.fujitsu.com/us/services/computing/storage/hdd/support/how-to-read-models.html

Intel SSD

Example: SSDSA2SH064G1

SSD Product Type Designator: SSD = Solid State Drive
SA
Bus Architecture:

PA = PATA SA = SATA

SC = SATA US = Universal Serial Bus

2
Form Factor:

1 = 1.8 2 = 2.5

M = Module

S
Product Technology Type:

S = Single Level Cell< M = Multi-Level Cell

H Performance:
064G
Density:

001G = 1GB 002G = 2GB 008G = 8GB

032G = 32GB 064G = 64GB

1 Product Generations:
1-9 Generations

Crucial/Micron SSD

Example: CTFDDAC128MAG

CT
Brand:

CT = Crucial Technology MT = Micron Technology

FD
Product Family:

FD = Flash drive

D
Drive Interface:

D = SATA 6.0 Gb/s

AC
Drive Form Factor:

AA = 1.8-inch Micro SATA Hdd replacement AC = 2.5-inch HDD replacement

128
Drive Density:

064 = 64GB 128 = 128GB

256 = 256GB

M
NAND Flash Type:

M = MLC

AG
Product Family:

AG = C300

Corsair SSD

Example: CSSD-F120GB2

CSSD
Brand:

Corsair Solid State Drive

F
Product Series:

F = Force Series V = Nova Series

P3 = Performance 3 Series

120GB Drive Density
2
Drive Form Factor:

2 = 2.5

OCZ SSD

Example: OCZSSD2-2VTXEX200G

OCZSSD
Brand:

OCZ Solid State Drive

2
Drive Form Factor:

1 = 1.8 2 = 2.5 3 = 3.5

U3 = USB 3.0 PX = PCI-Express

2
Product Generation:<

1 = 1st Generation 2 = 2nd Generation

VTXEX
Drive Family:

VTX = Vertex Series VTXEX = Vertex EX Series VTXP = Vertex Pro Series RVD = RevoDrive Series

RVDX = RevoDrive X2 Series ONX = Onyx Series AGT = Agility Series CLSLT = Colossus LT Series

200G
Drive Density:

XXG = XX GB 1T = 1 TB (1024 GB)